May 30 -- Civility's moral imperative (Dale Hanson Bourke): UNDATED -- We can no longer call ourselves a civil society.

May 30 -- Moments of Grace: When I was a sweet young thing back in the late '40s, I visited my grandmother during her church's revival week. Each night we climbed aboard my granddad's vintage pickup truck and hurtled our way down a narrow country road, and I'm fighting a very unfamiliar stick shift at least the length of a nine iron, while my little grandmother is sitting straight as an arrow by my side, never realizing the imminent danger to life and limb.

May 30 -- Debating domestic partners (Terry Mattingly): It was time, once again, for a political leader to step to the microphone and debate the politics of morality with America's most outspoken Roman Catholic prelate.

May 30 -- Act of praying overshadows methods used (Clark Morphew): There are different forms of prayer for every religion in the world, and the amazing thing is, they all work.

May 30 -- Liberal bishop believes Christianity must change to survive (Jim Jones): Bishop John Shelby Spong of Newark, N.J., is an affable radical. He's the liberal Episcopal bishop among the first to ordain a noncelibate homosexual.

May 30 -- Guns and revenge have seductive power (Lauren R. Stanley): ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- In Springfield, Ore., families and friends are in shock and mourning over the shootings that took place there last week. A 15-year-old boy is charged with taking a gun to school and killing two students while wounding 22 others.

May 30 -- Despite conflicting beliefs, two small-town churches worship as one: JACKSBORO, Texas -- The bearded preacher is Presbyterian. A woman reading Scripture is a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The organist - an outsider - is a Baptist.

May 30 -- Evangelical megachurch apologizes after offending Jews: SEATTLE -- The elders of Overlake Christian Church have apologized to the area's Jewish community for a statement warning against gossip and hearsay.

May 30 -- Church's art is resurrected: MILLER CITY, Ohio -- A hidden treasure, a revelation. Lightning bolts, tornadoes, destruction. Artwork long-forgotten, moldering through decades in a dark attic.

May 30 -- Resolution making waves in Methodist conference: A history-making resolution for the Northwest Texas Annual Conference to withdraw from the United Methodist Church doesn't stand much chance for passage, observers believe, but it definitely is making a statement.

May 30 -- New vicar adjusting to different culture: About the only thing the new parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Catholic Church is finding familiar in his new surroundings is the weather.

May 30 -- Little church responds to call for aid: A little church in Avoca is raising some big eyebrows all around.

May 30 -- As millions view shroud in Italy, the mystery persists: Is it Christ's?: TURIN, Italy -- Huge crowds of believers are flocking to a newly o pened display of the Shroud of Turin despite the conclusions of scientists who say that the mysterious cloth cannot be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ.

May 30 -- Vigils held to comfort survivors and protest violence: RALEIGH, N.C. -- The two sisters arrived at the spot on the lonely gravel road bearing daisies. Here, amid the green grass and with the sun poking its head through the clouds, they met 15 strangers -- people who had never known them or their sister but who wanted to help.

May 23 -- Where have all the unisexuals gone? (Dale Hanson Bourke): I'm so old, I remember when unisex was a new, risque term.

May 23 -- Moments of Grace: Certain moments of grace for me are unforgettable as early milestones on a journey of faith. I'd like to share one of them.

May 23 -- Just another day in Catholic-Jewish relations (James A. Rudin): UNDATED -- The other day the Rev. John T. Pawlikowski, a professor at Chicago's Catholic Theological Union, and I were in a taxi headed for the Boston airport after taping a TV program at the Harvard Divinity School.

May 23 -- Finding a quiet place for reflection easy in Abilene: Silence is golden and as rare as a fine gem.

May 23 -- Local volunteer honored with governor's award: The beautifully engraved plaque hanging on Archie Scarbrough's wall is something to be proud of, but the letters from those he's helped are something to cherish.

May 23 -- March for Jesus to emphasize unity: "Jesus" will be the only name spoken during a march from the Taylor County Courthouse to the Civic Center on May 30.

May 23 -- Former inmate reaches out to others: SHERMAN, Texas -- At 51, William Bumphus is completely different from he heroin-addicted burglar he was 20 years ago, but he just can't leave the prison life behind him.

May 23 -- Commission holds hearings on role of religion in schools: WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has waded into the roiling waters of religion in the public schools, holding the first of a series of hearings on the volatile topic.

May 16 -- Preaching lifestyle rather than proclaiming God (Tom Ehrich): It was a preacher's dream: Mother's Day and a Scripture reading admonishing to "love one another."

May 16 -- Kindness of strangers brings mother dignity (Loretta Fulton): The kindness of two strangers, two women who "don't snap and snarl" whenever Luberta Jackson visits her son in Taylor County Jail, was enough to prompt her to write a letter to the editor.

May 16 -- Moments of Grace: It has been said that God's grace is an event or happening that supersedes the laws of nature or natural law if you will.

May 16 -- To be heard, religions must have something to say (Michael O'Connor): Our editor recently passed along an interesting discussion on religion and the media. Though little in the piece was new -- someone figured out a few years ago that we in the media had been ignoring a huge aspect of American life -- one statement stuck with me and has haunted my thoughts for weeks.

May 16 -- 'Chicken Soup' authors' bowl runneth over with hope (Jim Jones): Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, the Californians who wrote the bestselling "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series, have struck it rich.

May 16 -- Forget about using weddings as a tool of evangelism (Clark Morphew): About a year ago, I wrote about using weddings as a tool of evangelism. Ever since, clergy who thought my premise was stupid have regularly accosted me.

May 16 -- Take Dr. Spock's advice on instilling values (Tom Schaefer): Dr. Benjamin Spock raised a whole generation of children. Well, he may not have been in the nursery changing all the diapers, but his views on child-rearing, popularized in his best-seller "Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care," influenced countless post-World War II moms and dads.

May 16 -- Authors help churches guard against child sexual abuse: DALLAS --Joy Thornburg Melton's mother couldn't understand why she would write a book aimed at reducing the risk of child abuse at church.

May 16 -- Challenge of church is to root out remaining anti-Semitism: HARTFORD, Conn. -- As the scholars wound down their panel discussion at Trinity College in Hartford about the Vatican's recent statement on the Holocaust, one man in the audience could scarcely sit still.

May 16 -- Celebration of marriage ceremony to be offered: A simple celebration of marriage at a local church was so successful that the creators have decided to offer it to the larger community.

May 16 -- Build a cross and they will come: BALLINGER -- In the calm of an Easter sunrise or in the moments before a storm stirs the air with the scent of rain, they go.

May 16 -- Assistance program receives helping hand: Friend to Friend just got a helping hand.

May 16 -- Beech Party crowd offers volunteer labor: Nonprofit organizations and businesses are missing out on a golden opportunity for free labor this summer by not responding to an offer from the Beech Party crowd.

May 16 -- Pastor recalls new Interfaith Alliance director's integrity: The new executive director of The Interfaith Alliance used to say that "you should read the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other."

May 16 -- Wanted: six volunteers to run the Church of England: LONDON -- Members of the public are being invited to apply to run the Church of England.

May 16 -- Special synagogue partition keeps the sexes in their places but gives the women a view: Modern technology, employed in the service of age-old tradition, lets Avril Adelman watch her 10-year-old son singing at the end of Sabbath services.

May 16 -- For pastors, genetics pose tough questions; cutting-edge science calls for new thinking: DALLAS -- Religion and science meet at the center of the human heart and in the heart of the human cell. Cutting-edge technology is pushing genetic counselors and pastors unexpectedly into each other's territory.

May 9 -- Company chairman gives and gives and gives (Ken Garfield): When Fred Wikoff Jr. gets to heaven, let's hope the good Lord doesn't ask him to wax eloquent about why he devoted so much of his wealth to helping others.

May 9 -- Moments of Grace: We have two choices every morning when we wake up. Either we can try to make it a good day or we can dwell on sad things, get to feeling sorry for ourselves and have a bad day.

May 9 -- Methodists in turmoil over lesbian ceremony (Jim Jones): Controversy over a Nebraska pastor's conducting a "marriage" for a lesbian couple has erupted into what some have called the biggest conflict among Methodists since slavery.

May 9 -- Remembering musician Rich Mullins: (Terry Mattingly): Father Matt McGinness had never heard the song playing on his car radio, even though "Sing Your Praise to the Lord" was one of superstar Amy Grant's biggest hits.

May 9 -- Memories of wedding disasters can linger (Clark Morphew): We're approaching the wedding season, and everyone involved in these massive and expensive events must be mindful of certain dangers.

May 9 -- Church in danger of bleeding to death (Michael O'Connor): The controversy over the Rev. Jimmy Creech's actions has cost him his position in the church, a result that will no doubt please many in the United Methodist connection. But the controversy points up a serious problem within the church that may well undo nearly a century of efforts to bring the various Methodist traditions back together.

May 9 -- Hollywood loves angels, but religious leaders are cautious: In Hollywood, there are few places angels fear to tread.

May 9 -- Before there was Promise Keepers, Ed Cole was telling men to get their acts together: SOUTHLAKE, Texas -- For many Christians and non-Christians alike, the list of men's ministries begins and ends with Promise Keepers.

May 9 -- Clergyman impressed with state of Methodism in Europe: A generation of Eastern Europeans whose education is short on religious instruction and history is of great concern to church leaders there, an American learned recently.

May 9 -- Breakfast on Beech celebrates second anniversary: Two years and 12,609 servings later, breakfast is still the most important meal of the day at BOB's.

May 9 -- Abilene Baptist Association to honor Lay Person of the Year: Bill Heatly was at the front door the day Lytle South Baptist Church opened, and he's been there practically every Sunday since.

May 9 -- In 50 years, kibbutz movement has undergone many changes: KIBBUTZ RAVID, Israel -- On a rocky, wind-swept hilltop overlooking the Sea of Galilee, 35 young pioneers at Kibbutz Ravid are trying to breathe new life into the old Marxist slogan, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

May 9 -- Mother-love an ideal that doesn't always match reality: On Mother's Day, the nation pays tribute to one of humankind's most cherished relationships -- the tender caretaking a woman bestows upon her child.

May 9 -- Southern Hills minister to join ACU faculty: Robert Oglesby, who has been family minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ for 14 years, is joining the Abilene Christian University faculty June 1.

May 9 -- Centuries-old beliefs and rituals of paganism offer its practitioners religion without the middleman: CHICAGO -- At the new and full moons -- and throughout the year at times like Halloween, Yule and May Day -- some people celebrate with religious rituals that hark back to simpler times.

May 9 -- Minister helps people fashion their own theologies: DUNCAN, Okla. -- "If you died tonight, would you go to hell?"

May 2 -- Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman sends out a message with 'Not Home Yet': Not long before she was murdered at her high school prayer meeting, Kayce Steger of Paducah, Ky., told a friend that her dream was to meet Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman.

May 2 -- Family opens home to students for last time in Abilene: The Lau family won't leave Abilene until May 27, but for everyone concerned the party was over April 24.

May 2 -- Abilenians to join in National Day of Prayer: Abilenians will join Americans across the country Thursday to observe the 47th annual National Day of Prayer.

May 2 -- Dallas Cowboys coach lets Christian lifestyle speak for him: DALLAS -- It didn't take long for Texans to notice that a Christian man was taking the reins of the Dallas Cowboys.

May 2 -- The Hare Krishnas get respectable in New Delhi: NEW DELHI, India -- A tall, milky-white young man, with blue eyes and shaved head, and wearing the orange robes of a Hindu holy man turned up at my New Delhi apartment the other day. He had a giant V painted on his forehead, and a red mark between his eyes. With him was another robed man, apparently of Indian origin but with unmistakable American body language.

May 2 -- Campers on Mission helping build church addition in Hawley: They come from as far away as Oregon and as close as next door.

May 2 -- Lay ministries provide a sharing of the caring: ORLANDO, Fla. -- In the days of simpler Sundays, protestant pastors could attend to almost any personal crisis in their small congregations.

May 2 -- Poll shows most teens get along with parents, believe in God: A poll of teen-agers shows that the majority of them get along with their parents, believe in God and trust the government.

May 2 -- Characters in 'VeggieTales' videos get their religious messages across with attitude, not platitudes: It looks like just another glitzy kids' cartoon. There's a wisecracking tomato, a silly cucumber, an asparagus family -- a whole crew of engagingly squeaky-voiced garden creatures.

May 2 -- Religion's place in workplace important to many: The muezzin's call to prayer is a sound of daily life in Islamic countries. But occasionally, that sing-song call ululates through the carpeted offices of Kachelski, Atta & Straub in Milwaukee, Wis. Religious workers press for rights

May 2 -- Jay Casey discovers life beyond the pulpit (Ken Garfield): CORNELIUS, N.C. -- Jay Casey's hands are black from dirt. His brow is soaked with sweat. His back aches from bending over. And he has never felt better.

May 2 -- Cowboy churches hold a unique appeal (Jim Jones): The first "cowboy church" I ever attended was in the bull-riding arena of Billy Bob's Texas, the immense nightclub in Fort Worth's historic Stockyards district known as the "world's largest honky-tonk."

May 2 -- True light shines through devoted service (Loretta Fulton): Normally anonymous letters addressed to Robertta rather than my preferred name of Loretta would go directly into the trash.

May 2 -- Farewell to a Christian (Terry Mattingly): It was easy to hear Wilfred Kwadwo Sewodie's voice each night as he moved through the quiet Dallas Theological Seminary hallways, scrubbing baseboards, collecting trash and doing his janitorial duties.

May 2 -- Fundamentalists refuse to give up on school prayer (Clark Morphew): The fundamentalist Christians simply will not give up on the public school prayer issue.